Two Palestinians were killed during an exchange of fire between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters on Saturday, while a third Palestinian was shot dead by occupation soldiers near a Gaza Strip border crossing, witnesses said.

In the first incident, witnesses said troops backed by helicopters raided the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun and engaged in heavy clashes with Palestinian fighters. According to Reuters, bullets fired during the gunfight killed two Palestinians.

At the same time, Israeli in a nearby part of Beit Hanun wounded three Palestinians, two of them children, with shrapnel, medics said.

In the second incident, the Israeli army confirmed it had shot and killed a man as he approached the "Kissufim" border crossing in central Gaza.